Labeling machine



June 25, 1935.

w. w. OSLUND 2,005,802

LABELING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l Imnentor WaZfar- W. 0,5521? (Ittorneg June 25, 1935.

LABELING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 6, 1953 5 She ets-Sheet 2 ,Lkk 0 N g- III Tadfar 74 0822672? w. w. OSLUND 2,005,802

June 25, 1935. w. w. OSLUND LABELING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 6, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Zmnentor WJ/ar V OsZun? (Ittorneg June 25, 1935. w. w. OSLUND LABELING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 nventor Val/er 77 0-92 71):?

June 25, 1935. w w OSLUND I 2,005,802

LABELING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 .95- 117- a0 v l I //////Z o 104 1/1 1/5106 Zhwentor (Ittorneg Patented June 25, 1935 UNETED STATES LABELING MACHINE Walter W. Oslund, Holden, Mass, assignor to The Oslund Brothers Machine Company, Incorporated, Holden, Mass, chusetts a corporation of Massa Original application February 6, 1933, Serial No. 1 655,401. Divided and this application June 16,

1933, Serial No. 676,066

Claims.

This invention relates to labeling machines, and

more particularly to a machine arranged to aflix labels to articles such as glass bottles automatically and at a high rate of speed. This applica- 5 tion is a division of my prior application Serial No.

655,401, filed February 6, 1933.

Bottle labeling machines ordinarily comprise a rotary table on which the bottles are supported during the labeling operation. A feeding device receives the bottles from a traveling conveyor and places them on the table, and an additional mechanism transfers the labeled bottles from the table back to the conveyor. Prior machines in this art have been complicated and expensive, and they have been subject to certain difliculties in operation. The bottles are not always held firmly throughout all parts of the cycle, and as a result breakage of bottles frequently occurs, particularly when the machine is stopped sudden ly. The broken pieces of glass often fall through openings provided in the table and thus reach the cams and other mechanism therebeneath. The

It is accordingly one object of the invention to provide comparatively simple and inexpensive machine which capable of afiixing labelsat a very high rate of speed, and which'will operate for long periods without attention or repair.

Itis a further object of the invention to provide a labeling machine which will hold the bottles or other articles'firmly throughout the entire cycle of operation and thus prevent breakage of the articles caused by sudden stopping of the machine. I

It is a further object of the invention to provide a labeling machine which is so constructed and arranged that if a bottle should break, the broken pieces cannot fall into the cams and other mechanisms beneath the table.

It is a further object of the invention to pro-- vide a bracket for supporting the articles on the table of a labeling machine which is so constructed that the articles will be firmly supported during the entire operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a bracket for supporting glass bottles on the table of a labeling machine which is so constructed as not to interfere with the affixing of labels around the entire circumference of the bottles.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set .forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto. I Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention, and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a bottle labeling machine Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine, with certain parts omitted for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3- -3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail of the actuating mechanism ing bracket;'

Fig. 8 is an elevation showing one of the label.

grippers in operating position; 7 r

Fig- 9,is a plan 'view showing the position of the parts when the label is first brought into contact with the bottle; I

Fig. 10 is a section taken approximately on the line l0|0 of Fig. 1.1, showing a bottle clamp and the actuating mechanism therefor;

Fig. 11 is a section on the line li -l l of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 10, but showing the parts in the clamping position; and

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the cams which control the clamping mechanism.

In the drawings I have shown a machine particularly suitable for afiixing labels to glass bottles, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain features of the invention can be used advantageously in connection with labeling machines in general. I

The embodiment illustrated comprises acircular table -30 which is arranged to be rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. The table is driven by means of a vertical shaft 3! therebeneath which is provided at its lower. end with a large bevel gear 32 (Fig. 3) A bevel pinion '34, which is, mounted on. a horizontal shaft 35, meshes with the gear 32 to drive the same. The shaft 35 is driven by an electric motor 36 (Fig. 1) which is connected thereto by a suitable speed reducing mechanism 3'l. As is usual in machines of this type, I have provided a clutch 38 (Fig. 3) whichwill permit the driving motor'to be disconnected from the shaft 35, whereupon the shaft may be rotated manually by means of a handwheel 39. By turning the machine over slowly in this way, any necessary adjustments in the various parts can be'macle more accurately. The vertical shaft 3! is shown journaled in astand or' bracket 40 (Fig. 3) ,and the horizontal shaft 35 ismounted in bearings 42. The stand 40 and bearings 42 are supported on a horizontal base 43 provided with feet 44.

The unlabeled bottles are delivered to the machine and the labeled bottles delivered therefrom by the usual endless conveyor chain 46. A suitable track 41 serves to support the top run of the chain in a horizontal plane level with the top of the table 30, .the usual guide rails 48 being provided at each side of the track tokeep the bottles thereon. A flat horizontal shelf 49 is provided between the chain and the table even with the top thereof. The lower run of the chain is supported by a track 50 (Fig. 2) and driven by means of a sprocket I which is driven by means of a spur gear 52 coaxial therewith. A spur pinion 54 meshes with the gear 52, this pinion being mounted on the outer end of a shaft 55 which carries on its inner end a bevel pinion 56 (Fig. 13) driven from the large bevel gear 32.

In order to transfer the unlabeled bottles from the conveyor chain 46 to the table 30, I utilize a feeding turret 58 which is rotated about a vertical axis in a counter-clockwise. direction as viewed in Fig. 1.

This turret is provided with a plurality of bottle-engaging hooks or abutments 59 which are equally spaced about its circum- I driven by means of a bevel pinion 65 mounted on the end of the horizontal shaft35, which is extended for this purpose. A suitable adjusting means 6'! (Fig. 1) is preferably provided so that the angular relationship of the turret to the shaft 63 may be altered slightly if necessary to produce the desired operation. It will be noted that the shaft 63 is positioned between the conveyor chain 46 and the table 30, and the turret extends over the chain in a position to receive the bottles carried thereby.

In order to synchronize the delivery of the bottles to the turretand the successive arrival of the hooks 59 to the bottle receiving position, I provide a stop 69 which is movable into and out of the path of the bottles carried by thefchain 46. This stop is mounted on the end of a lever which is actuated automatically by a mechanism described and claimed in my said prior application Serial No. 655,401.

As soon as a bottle is engaged by one of the hooks 59 it is carried around thereby and placed upon the table 30. During this movement the bottles are supported and held against the turret 58by means of two arcuate guide rails 8] arranged substantially concentric withthe turret.

, These guide rails are yieldably urged toward the turret, and since each rail contacts with only one bottle at a time the bottles arefirmly held. In the preferred construction each guide rail 81 is suspended by means of an arm 88 (Fig. 2), and

the upper end of each arm is pivoted to a bracket 89. The pivotal axes are horizontal and perpendicular to radii leading to the central portions of the guide rails, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, so that the rails may swing directly toward the turret. They are urged in that direction by tension springs 90 (Fig. 2) which connect projections on the arms 88 with projections on the. bracket as. The movement of the rails is limited by adjustable screws 9I.

As soon as each bottle is placed on the table 30 by the rotating turret, it is engaged by a bottle supporting bracket 93 mountedon the upper surface of the table and near the outer edge thereof. There are a plurality of these brackets (four being illustrated) equally spaced about the circumference of the table. The speed of the turret 58 is related to the speed of the table in the ratio of the number of brackets to the number of turrethooks 59. With four brackets and three turret hooks, the turret should ro tate four times while the table is rotating three times. As shown particularly in Fig. '7, each bracket 93 comprises two vertically spaced double-pronged or V-shaped forks 94, and a connecting portion shown as a vertical post 95. The forks 94 project horizontally from the post in vertical alignment with each other, and the prongs at one side of the forks are considerably longer than theother prongs. Moreover the extremities of these longer prongs preferably curve toward the shorter prongs, for a purpose which will be made apparent later in this description.

The brackets 93 are mounted on the table with the forks 94 extending forward in the direction of rotation, and with the longer prongs located on the side toward the center of the table. The forks 94 are so shaped that when the bottle is in position in the forks aconsiderable space will be allowed between the bottle and the post 95.. The advantage of this construction will be explained later herein. The brackets may be held on the table in various ways. In the illustrated embodiment vertical studs 91 extend upwardly from the table, and the posts 95 are made hollow to fit over these studs, set screws 98 being v I provided to hold the brackets firmly on the studs.

It will now be apparent that after the bottle has entered the forks in the bracket and moved slightly out of contact with the turret, a sudden stopping of the machine will cause the bottle to slide forwardly and'perhaps tip over and break. In order to prevent this from happening I have provided the mechanism shown particularly in Figs. 10 to 13, which comprises a lever' I09 located beneath each bracket 93 and pivoted to the underside of the table 30v by means of a horizontal pin IOI. A gripping device or finger I02 is pivoted to the end of the lever I00, and a tension spring I04 normally holds cooperating shoulders on these parts in contact.

When the lever swings to the position shown in ,Fig. 12, the finger I02 will engage the front sur face of the bottle near the bottom thereof and hold it in the bracket, the spring I04 serving to prevent excessive pressure on the bottle and to compensate for variations in bottle size. Each lever I00 is actuated by a secondlever I05 pivoted to the table by means of a horizontal :pin 1 I06. The adjacent ends of the levers are connected by a pin I08 fixed in the lever I00 and engaging a slot I09 in the lever I05. The. other end of the lever I05 carries a cam roller 0 which engages stationary cams III shaped to give the desired movement to the fingers I02. In the illustrated construction each finger I02 is arranged to engage the bottle as soon as it is placed in the bracket, and the finger is withdrawn from the .bottle immediately after the labels have been applied by the pickers'and the label grippers have moved into gripping position. Insome machines it may be desirable to leave the fingers I82 in clamping p'ositionfor a larger. the arm I29. No torque can be applied tothe" part of the cycle, and this may be easily accomplished by extending the cams I l I.

After the continued rotation of the table has carried the bottlea short distance away from the feeding turret, labels from a storage magazine I13 are applied to the bottle by means of movable label pickers H4 (Figs. 1 and 9) which are actuated. 'by a suitable driving mechanism H5. Various constructions for this purpose are known in the art, and no detailed description of these parts will be made herein, since the present invention is concerned with other features of the machine. I

As soon as the labels are brought to the bottle by the pickers, label grippers are moved into position to hold the labels against the bottles, whereupon the pickers are withdrawn. Each label gripper, as bestshown in Fig. ,8, com- I prises a vertical bar I II which carries label engaging members I 18 provided with label contacting surfaces of sponge rubber or other suitable material. 'Each bar H1 is mounted on the outer end of a horizontal arm H9 (Fig. 9) which is secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft I2I extending downwardly through the table 30. The central portion of the table, over which the arms H9 swing, is preferably depressed below the outer portion on which the brackets 93 are mounted.

The movements of the label grippers are controlled by the mechanism shown in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive. This mechanism comprises a horizontal arm I22 mounted on the lower end of each shaft 'IZI. Eacharm I22 carries on its outer end a cam roller I23 which operates in the groove I25 in a stationary face cam I26 mounted on the central stand 1 3, beneath the table. This cam groove I is so shaped that the instant the labels are brought into contact with the bottle by the pickers, theshaft I2I will be .tumed to swing the label gripper into contact with the labels between the pickers. The label gripper remains in this relative position until the bottle reaches the position where it is to be removed from the table. It will be noted that the label grippers thus serve the dual purpose of holding the label's against the bottles, and clampthev bottles in the brackets 93.

In order thatthe label grippers may apply a substantially uniform pressure against thebottles irrespective of slight variations in size, and to avoid the possibility ofbreakage of parts, I preferably arrange each arm I22 so that it will yield after the corresponding label gripper has engaged the bottle. For this purpose a flanged sleeve 128 (Fig. 6) and an arm I29 are rigidly secured to the lower end of each shaft I21 by means of a set screw 36 which extends through both the arm and the sleeve into engagement'with the shaft. The arm I22 is pivotally mounted on the sleeve I23 between the arm 529 and the flange I 32 at the lower end of the sleeve. An integral projection i325 extends at right angles from the end of the arm i212, and a coiled tension spring I34 connects this projection with the end of the arm I29. A set screw I36 extends through a lateral projection IS? on the arm I22 into contact with the arm 12s to limit the relative movement between these arms under the influence of the spring I34. It will be understood that when the label gripper is in contact with the bottle, the spring will be slightly elongated, and the set screw I will be slightly out of contact with shaft |2I except through the spring.

It will be noted that the cam lit-and its associated parts are fully protected by the table 30 thereabove. With the construction which I have disclosed there is no necessity for slots or other openings in the table to accommodate the 'movement of the label grippers, as in prior arrangements. Hence, if a bottle is accidentally broken on the table, the pieces of glass cannot fall through into the cam mechanism and cause serious. damage to the parts thereof.

After the labels have been applied to the bottle,

and the-pickershave moved out of the way, the

rotation of the table carries the bottle between a pair of wipers I39 (Fig. 1) shown as arcuate shaped brushes mounted in a suitable supporting frame Mi]. L These brushes wipe the adhesive coated ends of the labels against the bottle. No

attempt has been made to illustrate thedetailed construction of these wipers, since vthey rnay be of conventional form and are well known ih this art.

As the labeled bottles reach a position near the conveyor chain 36, they are transferred from the table to the conveyor by. a. mechanism comprising a single hook-shaped member or device M22 which ismoved over the surface of the table in syn chronism with the rotation thereof, and which engages each bottle at the proper time and removes it from the table. The member 142 is pivoted to a rotatable head I it by means of a pin I 45. 'A second rotatable head is mounted near the head Md andcarries a pin i59 which engages a. slot or guideway'iiii formed in a'horizontal tail piece or extension I52 integral with thehook-shaped member Hi2. These parts are so constructed andarranged that the hook M2 is given a combined motion of translation and oscillation, and it engages each bottle at the proper time'by reaching into the space bounded by the two forks 94,;the bottle, and the post 95. If the bottle were in contact with the post, this would not of course be possible. The mechanism for actuating the hook I42 is more fully described and. claimed inmysaid priorapplication, Serial No. 655,401.

A pair ofvertically spaced arcuate guide rails I64 are preferably provided outside the path of the bottlesas they are being transferred by the hook I42. These rails are preferably yieldably supported by mounting them on a vertical pivot pin A65 (Fig.

1) and providing a tension. spring N35 to urgeof the table and as close to the path of the bracket posts 95 as is practicable without interference. It will be apparent irom an inspection In order to I of Fig. 1 that the curved extremitiesof the long I inner prongs of the brackets perform an impor-' tant function in directing the bottle outwardly toward the fingers I59. These fingers cooperate with thehook I 42 in changing the direction of travel of. the bottles without shock.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. The unlabeled bottles are placed upon the left end of bottle will be arrested by the stop.

As a bottle reaches the turret 58, it will be engaged by one of the hooks 59, carried around thereby and placed on the table 30 directly in the path of a bracket 93. During this movement the bottle is clamped firmly against the turret by'the yieldable guide rails 81. When the bottle is engaged by the bracket 93, it will be clamped thereagainst by one of the grip fingers I02, con-- trolled by the cams III. Shortly thereafter the' V adhesive coated labels will be applied to the front surface of the bottle by the pickers I I4, asindicated in Fig. 9, and a label gripper I I1 will immediately be brought into contact with the central portions of the labels by the action of 'the rollers I23 in following the cam groove I25. The pickers will thereupon withdraw, and the bottle will pass between the brushes I39, which will wipe down the ends of the labels.

When the labeled bottle reaches a position near the hook I42,-the label gripper III will swing away from the bottle, and the hook I42 will immediately engage the bottle and transfer it from the table to the conveyor chain 46, which will carry it to any suitable receiving apparatus (not shown). The hook moves very fast while over the table, since it has to engage the rear surface of the bottle, which is traveling rapidly due to the rotatation of the table. Furthermore, the bottle must be withdrawn fast enough to prevent it from being struck by the outer prongs of the bracket forks 94. As the bottle reaches the conveyor, however, the hook slows up considerably, so that there is no tendency to hurl the bottle along the conveyor.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present machine is simpler, less costly to manufacture, and more efiectivein operation than any other machine heretofore produced for the same purpose. The bottles are firmly supported at allparts of the cycle,; and'they cannot be tipped over by any sudden stopping of the machine. The cam I26 and the parts associated therewith arewell protected by the table there- 'above. This table is not slotted (as in prior constructions) to accommodate the movement of the label grippers, and there are no openings through which broken glass could fall into the cam. The brackets 93 form a simple and effective support for the bottles, and by providing aspace between the bottle and the post 95, they make it possible to use the simple hook member I42 for removal.

Furthermore, with this'brack'et construction, the labels can be wrapped entirely around the bottle if desire-d by a. suitable wrapping mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters table as the table rotates, and label grippers lo'-' cated above the table and actuated by the shafts. 2. A labeling machine comprising a rotary table arranged to support articles during the labeling operation, a plurality of vertical shafts extending through the table and rotatably supported therein, means including a stationary cam below the table arranged to oscillate the shafts relative to the table as the table rotates, an arm connected to each shaft above the table, and a label gripper carried by each of theupper arms. 3. A labellng'machine comprising a rotary table arranged to support articles during the labeling operation, a plurality of vertical shafts extending through the table and rotatably supported therein, an arm connected to each shaft'below the table, a stationary cam below the table, cam followers on the arms which are controlledby the cam, an arm connected to each shaft'above the table, and a label gripper carried by each of the upper arms. I 1

4. A labeling machine comprising a rotary table arrangedto support articles during the labeling operation, a plurality of vertical shafts extending through the table and rotatably supported therein, a horizontal arm yieldably connected to each shaft below, the table, a stationary cam below the table, cam followers on the arms which are controlled by the cam, a horizontal arm connected to each shaftabove the table, and a substantially vertical label gripper mounted on the endof each the upper arms.

5. A labeling machine comprising a rotary table having a depressed central portion and an ele vated outer portion, a plurality of vertical shafts extending through the depressed portion of the table and rotatably supported therein, an arm connected to each shaft below the table, a stationary cam below the table, cam followers on the arms which are controlled by the cam, a horizontal arm connected to eachshaft above the table and arranged to swing close to the said depressed portion of the table, and a substantially vertical label gripper mounted on each of the upper arms.

WALTER. W. OSLUND.

the end of 

